On TV: More than a few finales leave viewers pining for fall

By MELANIE MCFARLAND, P-I TELEVISION CRITIC

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, May 25, 2006

Finales bring out the love-hate emotional swinging in viewers. The fact that they answer questions, resolve burning issues and tend to surprise -- love it. But their failure to live up to our expectations leaves us stewing more often than not. Indeed, the universally adored finale is rarer than a flawless ruby.

The only way we all win is to accept these seasonal or series endings, good or bad, as the precursor to a fall reboot.

This is not to say that the 2005-2006 season was a criminal year for television. On the contrary, a number of network series drew healthy crowds this season.

Yet it would be a lie to deny our relief at sweeping the old business out the door. It needed to go. Too many veteran series ended with a sigh as opposed to a bang, and other shows built us up to their summer exits, only to have us shaking our fists as they left. ("Lost," I'm looking in your direction.) As for "Desperate Housewives," let's pretend that the whole thing was a hallucination.

That said, every network had a few finales worth remembering. (Here there be spoilers if you're planning to watch later.)

ABC

"Alias" fans, I feel for you. To be dragged along for all this time only to see Sloane gain immortality and be buried alive? Couldn't the writers have finished it two seasons ago?

Nevertheless, "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost" almost made up for that series' shortcomings, although no one in their right mind could call either perfect.

At three hours, "Grey's" was too long. Prom and the extended Meredith-McDreamy examination room delight -- try not to think about what's been lanced in there -- were excessive, to put it kindly. And that final scene: Meredith looks at Derek. Meredith looks at vet. Vet looks at Meredith looking at Derek. Derek looks at vet looking at Meredith looking at Derek. Viewer looks at watch, holds nose.

Maybe it doesn't matter, because the other docs made "Grey's" season a stunner. The look on Dr. Webber's face when he found out his wife always knew about his affair simply killed. We'll forgive Cristina Yang, who abandoned her lover, Burke (Isaiah Washington), after he was awakened and began thrashing around during surgery.

In comparison, "Lost" resembled a withholding lover. OK, we know now that the button really did need to be pushed and not doing so makes planes like Oceanic 815 fall from the sky.

It's a tragedy that Michael sold out Jack, Kate and Sawyer to get Walt back.

But why in the heck was Charlie so casual about Locke and Eko going missing? Is Desmond, surprisingly reintroduced in the season finale, still alive? What about Walt was too much for the Others to handle? "Lost," I cannot quit you, and I hate myself for that.

CBS

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' " last-minute shot of Grissom waiting for Sara to join him in bed was the "finally!" moment the series has moved toward lo these many years. And "Ghost Whisperer" pulling a little twist by making Melinda's best friend dead was a nice touch from the M. Night Shyamalan playbook.

The sight of Special Agent Leroy Jethro, the center of "NCIS," clinging to life after a terrorist attack wins the gasp contest. We don't know if that means Mark Harmon is on his way out, but creator Don Bellisario has told reporters that somebody is leaving.

NBC

At the end of a mediocre season, NBC managed to give us one outstanding moment.

By that, I am not referring to the series finale of "The West Wing," which was appropriately sentimental if you were a diehard viewer. Or, for that matter, "Will & Grace's" bittersweet sayonara last week. You either loved its indulgences or you hated them, but they didn't sink the ship. (What may do some damage, however, is the out-of-left-field killing of district attorney Alexandra Borgia (Mercer Island High grad Annie Parisse), on "Law & Order," which left viewers shocked and miffed.)

That great moment we're alluding to was in the season finale of "The Office," when Jim finally confessed his love to longtime crush Pam -- with tears in his eyes. A realistic, tortured reaction followed, as did a kiss among the dark cubicles. Unexpected, tender and sorrowful all at once, this was a tremendous scene in an episode written by star Steve Carell, one that hints "The Office" could be on the verge of breaking out.

The CW (WB/UPN)

Our condolences to "Everwood" viewers, who stuck with a wonderful, underappreciated series only to see it bumped off The CW schedule to bring back crusty old "7th Heaven."

But chances are you talked about the outcome of "America's Next Top Model," which crowned the lovely Danielle, a girl that Tyra Banks put through hell because of her deep Southern drawl. "Top Model" became unpredictable again this year.

Fox

A severed hand, an exploding eyeball, a dead rich girl, the Soul Patrol -- put 'em together, and you have a successful sweeps for Fox. "Prison Break" redeemed itself with a finale that zipped from one disaster to the next, losing T-Bag's hand and the U.S. president in the process.

However, it didn't match "House," which ended a marvelous season with a mind-freak that started with the snarky doctor getting shot, and ended up being nothing more than a gory hallucination. And once again, thank you "O.C." writers for sending Marissa Cooper into that great handbag boutique in the sky.

No finale matched "24's" fireworks, an apt ending to the best season yet. Jack's trip down vengeance road ended by a) taking a naval petty officer step by step through the Art of Throat Slitting; b) having Jack break the main terrorist's neck with his legs; c) avenging his pals by shooting Robocop; d) seeing Jack fail -- fail! -- to beat a confession out of President Logan -- thereby e) giving the first lady an opportunity to snag her husband using her feminine wiles and then gloat.

And, finally, a ruse that begins with the mention of Kim calling on a land line (which a guy who lives by his cell phone doesn't find odd in the least) gets Jack nabbed by Chinese operatives! They literally tossed him on a slow boat to you know where! January cannot come soon enough!

That, friends, is what a season finale is supposed to do: Make you wish for the ability to skip a few months and dive into a new season straightaway.

Perhaps it is better that these finales didn't give us everything we wanted -- absence does make the heart grow fonder.